Present a formal research proposal for our housing authority project, consisting of a written report and a presentation.  Recall the call for proposals that I had used for our project management assignment.  Your proposal must address the general objectives that we had in that assignment: we needed to take measures of an initial baseline of housing authority customer needs, wants, attitudes, and beliefs.  Since this work would be part of a partnership between the university and the housing authority, I am considering the "client" to be BOTH the university administration and the housing authority since both must be satisfied that the costs and methodology are acceptable.

Your research proposal must include two phases of research (no more, no less).  For example, you might propose the conduct of an exploratory focus group study followed by a closed-ended mail survey, you might propose a content analysis of open ended questions followed by a focus group study, you might propose an initial TDI followed by a larger IDI study, etc.  The series of two studies that you propose, however, must be supported as the most relevant way of meeting the assigned objective. 

Whatever pair of studies you propose, your proposal should make it clear to our client that these studies would be thorough in answering questions regarding the outcomes of their grant obligations.  Given that this target audience (university administrators and the housing authority) is less familiar with the research process than example proposals have presumed, your proposal should provide enough details that anyone who is unfamiliar with this project would be able to understand the problem and the proposed research methodology, analysis, and deliverables. 

Since our audience has absolutely no incentive to steal a research proposal for the use of some third party, submit ALL proposed screeners, topic guides, survey forms, or other instruments that would be used in your study as appendices. 

Also submit your internal budget worksheet as an appendix with enough details that our client could understand it.  For your budget worksheet, use costs that we had assumed in association with using university facilities and resources; if you need a cost that we haven't discussed, then ask me to give you one.  A budget that is unrealistic, doesn't make sense, or doesn't match your price quote will have a heavy impact on your grade.  (An uncompetitively high price or a price that doesn't cover costs could get you fired from a real research firm -- or could get me fired from the university if I was made project director!).  Note that I do not need a Gantt table or chart; your proposed timeline should make sense by itself.

From past assignments, you are expected to now be familiar with how a research proposal for a practitioner project is formatted.  You will therefore not be provided with a template this time -- this project is designed in part to see if you can tie together insights, skills, and techniques that are needed to do real-world work.  Note that you will be quoting a single price that is inclusive of a two-study project -- both university administrators (my bosses) and the housing authority would have to agree that it makes sense. 

If you are in class when this project is discussed, you may work in a team of two if you want (or as an individual if you prefer).  If you were not in class, then (A) be on warning that this project is worth thirty percent of your final grade and I won't have any sympathy if you don't know what you are expected to do for our real-world client, and (B) you will not be allowed to work as part of a team.

I might some additional materials that will not be posted online.  If I do so, these materials are to be treated as confidential: you are not to share them with anyone outside of our class and you are to destroy them at the conclusion of this course.